


Sweep Me Off My Feet

by rosesofenvy



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: (except maybe jean and jeremy i haven't decided), AU, AtLA AU, Avatar the Last Airbender, Multi, i spelt graphic wrong omg, i'm following the basic plotline of the series so expect some (not a lot) of grafic stuff, if you want to tell me im wrong and i will try my best to fix it, its been a few years since ive watched atla/lok so i may be wrong on a few parts, merry christmas!!!, ok listen this will be slow going, relationships will be kept the same, school is killing me but i can't not share this with the world, things may not be accurate, things will be similar to the books tho, we all know how brutal this series is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-11 23:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9040391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesofenvy/pseuds/rosesofenvy
Summary: Neil is running from his past, and it ends up confronting him in a way he didn't expect. Can his ruse hold up enough to keep him alive?





	1. "Airbender"?

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written or updated in years. I never stopped getting ideas for stories, but the time and energy for working on them has been unbelievably low. This is the first time writing for this series in particular, and it's been so long that I'm not too confident in my character portrayal and for that I am sorry. 
> 
> This is in a universe where bending exists, I'm kind of making it more in the legend of korra universe, (but I haven't finished watching korra) so I'm relying heavily on past knowledge and wikipedia because I don't have the time to watch the series right now. 
> 
> There's no update schedule because I never know when I'll have the time to write again and I am so sorry for that, I promise if you pester me enough I will end up working on the story one way or another. 
> 
> One final thing, not everything is as appears in the first chapter, don't yell at me yet.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and happy holidays!

Neil wanted nothing more than a cigarette, however he had just finished his last one, Not like he was supposed to be smoking in the locker room anyway, but he desperately wanted the comfort of heat and smoke in his lungs for more reasons than one.

He shoves the last few items from his locker, a stick of deodorant and an empty cigarette carton into his bag, a bag that had already been filled with his essentials. He pulls the drawstring with a violent motion and slings the bag onto his back, feeling comfort from its familiar weight even though a sharp corner has hit his spine.

“You can stay around however long you need to, you know.”

Neil tenses up at the voice, cursing himself for not hearing the other man enter the room, he knows better than to get too distracted. “No, Mr. Hernandez, I’m fine to leave now.”

He can see Mr. Hernandez frown at the words, not just because he'd stopped calling him coach, “Well, I’m glad you haven’t left just yet, there’s someone askin’ around for you.”

Fear is a cold curl in his gut and Neil finds himself moving past Mr. Hernandez as he responds, “I have no interest in them, tell them I’m gone already.” He shouldn't have stayed so long, he should've bolted after his last fight of the night yesterday.

“You should have an interest if you want any future in bending,” Another mans voice stops Neil in his tracks, and he turns to look at the man that had joined them in the open space within the locker room.

“I don’t,” Neil replies flatly, tightening his grip on the bag. The man is blocking the door with an imposing stature, however he's trying not to appear threatening as far as Neil can tell. Subtle tones of green on his outfit and tribal tattoos on his arms give him away as an earthbender, and Neil racks his brain in an effort to figure out who he may be.

The man raises an eyebrow, “I don’t mean to be rude kid, but you don’t fight like that and not want a future for it.”

“Why do you care?” Neil asks, glance past the man and debating whether or not he could make a run for the door.

“I’m here to recruit you to our pro bending team, we’re short and our rosters are due in by the end of the month. I’m desperate, but your coach recommended you to us as a reliable bender.”

Neil furrows his brows, then realizes who this man is, “You’re trying to recruit me into the Foxes lineup? You’re Coach Wymack?”

“Yes and yes, what do you say kid?” Coach Wymack says, holding a manila envelope out towards him.

Neil freezes, glancing between the envelope and the man holding it. Of course he really did enjoy bending, even if he wasn’t staying true to his actual bending style. However joining a pro bending team would be stepping right into a spotlight, and to predict all the ways the situation could go wrong he would need to count on his fingers and his toes.

Bottom line was that the Foxes were a mess, all they got nowadays was bad publicity, since all the charity cases that Wymack took in seemed to make all the worst decisions. His most recent mistake had started a brawl in the market and was now in critical condition, along with the girl she had fought with. There was only one smart answer.

“I’m going to have to refuse,” Neil replies, shouldering his way past Wymack and ignoring the shouts from both of the men. In seconds he’s running, halfway through the lobby before he hears the ground shift around him and he’s sent sprawling, unable to catch himself before hitting the ground. He wheezes as he catches his breath, locating the earthbender who'd pulled out the ground from beneath him quickly and glaring.

“Goddamn Andrew I never said to bodily stop him,” Coach Wymack huffs, jogging into the room with Mr. Hernandez close behind him.

“You never said not to either,” Andrew replies in a mocking tone. He lowers his arm and moves his right leg back to stand up straight, out of the bending position he had been in. The ground he'd uprooted molds back together like nothing had happened.

“Jeez Neil are you alright?” Mr. Hernandez inquires as he helps him off the ground.

“I’m fine,” Neil replies, glaring at Andrew. He can feel a bruise forming on his calf where the rock had hit him in order to make him trip, and he's remembering all the things he'd heard about the man in the past. “Why is an earthbender here to try to convince me to join the team.”

“He’s not, I am.”

The voice that answers sends knives of ice into his veins, and he almost doesn’t want to turn around to acknowledge him. The smell of burning flesh and the sight of a man burning alive flashes through his memory before he shakes it off. Kevin stands in front of him, clad in traditional firebender practice gear and a glare. Neil knows a determined look, but he refuses to back down.

“I’m not joining,” Neil manages to bite out, dodging Kevin's gaze.

“You are going to, we need a player and you need a team,” Kevin shoots back immediately, closing the space between them in a few easy steps. Neil has to look up now, due to the couple of inches Kevin has on him.

“I won’t and you can’t make me.”

Wymack draws his attention back with a quick, “Neil,” he looks to Andrew and Kevin, “Go wait outside,” and to Mr. Hernandez, “Give me a moment with him.”

Neil waits until everyone has left the room to look at Coach Wymack. The other man is regarding him rather emotionlessly, until he heaves out a sigh.

“What’s holding you back from joining our team?”

Neil is a fast thinker, but he has to swallow hard and grit out a fast answer, “I won’t fight with a firebender like Kevin.” He may be quick on his feet but he has never felt so much like a fish out of water in these moments.

Coach Wymack grimaces, “Listen, Kevin may be abrasive but I want you to try to look past it for the moment. We really need a player and we chose you. You also need a place to go, Mr. Hernandez told me how you spend most nights here after the fights. Pro benders get free accommodations with their contracts.”

Neil feels his free hand curl into a fist, why would Mr. Hernandez say that in an attempt to get him a contract? He only bummed around the practice arena only because he didn't feel like breaking and entering any of the houses nearby or sleeping out on the street. He couldn't afford any extra attention that might be directed towards him, he drew enough in the local scene as it was.

Wymacks gaze is heavy, and Neil almost can’t think with it on him. His only running thoughts is the screams of a man burning alive and the knowing that Kevin was seeing the same scene as him.

“Do you want more time to think it over?” Coach Wymack asks, holding the manila envelope out towards him again. No matter what logic was telling Neil to flat out refuse and leave as fast as he humanly could, he can't make himself sprint out the door.

Neil grits his teeth and shakes his head, “Where do I sign.”

He ignores the fierce grin of victory that Wymack gives him as he hands over the papers and a pen.

As Neil is walking out of the lobby, he sees Andrew and Kevin standing close together in conversation nearby the doors. He hopes to walk by unnoticed, but it's unfortunately not the case as Andrew gives him a sarcastic grin.

“Ah, finally gave in?” Andrew asks as he walks past. When Neil doesn’t give an answer, Andrew shouts after him,

“We’ll be glad to have an airbender on our team.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

_“Don’t you dare firebend around me again.”_

Neil jolts awake with cold sweat all over his body. Of all the times to have a dream he would dream about her. He feels a phantom pain from fingers yanking his hair and he shakes his head in an effort to dispel it.

He’d slept in a back alley that night in order to avoid any sort of confrontations from the foxes. Coach Wymack had told him yesterday that someone would be picking him up from the stadium at one, so he’d need to be ready and there by then.

Neil sits up, looking down at his bag that he’d used as a makeshift pillow. He couldn’t check if it’d been tampered with until he was in a more secure location, he’d have to hope that no one was dumb enough to try him.

There’s a small park nearby with a small pond that he uses to splash over his face and try to appear at least a bit more presentable. He glances over at a loud shriek and sees two little boys running around each other, one making an effort to splash the other with the pond water by bending.

Neil glances down at his clothes and lets out a small breath of relief that they are the yellow and orange hues associated with airbenders. The dream he’d had had really set him on edge. His skin is crawling with the feeling of flames licking at his sides.

Decisively getting himself together, he begins the trek back towards the stadium, knowing that he’d be there a bit early.

The arena’s always closed on Sunday’s, for a multitude of purposes but mostly because the owners spend the day calculating the profit for the week. It gives the fighters a break as well, which most are known to spend training.

Which is the reason why Neil slows as he sees someone standing in front of the very abandoned looking arena. A quick observance yields him a short, blonde earthbender. Although he initially believed to be Andrew, couldn’t be because there wasn’t a trace of expression on his face. This had to be his twin brother, Aaron.

After leaving the arena last night, Neil looked more into the past of the Foxes, trying to find some sort of worth in the ragtag group. The most popular subjects were Kevin, unsurprisingly, and Andrew.

Andrew had been court ordered on medication after a bending fight gone too far. Although the incident was before he had been accepted into the pro bending leagues, it still heavily affected his performance. He’d been on a team with his cousin, Nicky, and another member of the league that Neil didn’t care enough to remember. He had watched a recording of the fight and had quickly understood the motives behind Andrews violence. The opponents were not only fighting dirty, but throwing slurs and insults, most specifically at Nicky.

_“You fight like a faggot too!”_

_“We can tell you trained on the streets dumbass cunts, can’t aim for shit!”_

_“You’re such a pansy you can’t even hit straight!”_

_The buzzer sounds and the opposing team shifts forward. Andrew and Nicky are holding onto their zone by a thread, as their teammate had been knocked off long ago. The constant bombardment of insults and attacks left both of them with very little leeway to come off the defensive._

_Nicky had been getting the worst of the treatment, it wasn’t like Andrew didn’t notice how he had to help Nicky defend against attacks and not have to worry about protecting himself because he knew there’d be nothing headed his way._

_“Fight back!”_

_Nicky gasps audibly enough that the tape picks it up as the disk slams hard into his shoulder, another into his leg which effectively brings him down. Andrew feels his vision crackle red and no longer cares for the rules of the match._

_He wrenches up the metal floor and tosses the tiles like disks, he wraps the floor around their ankles to keep them in place and stalks closer, batting away the disks being thrown, blocking the jets of fire and water, and ignoring the screams and shouts to stop._

_“I don’t like the word faggot,” He growls as he gets close enough to the other earthbender who’d said it and begins punching._

_He’s only stopped when he realizes there’s a total of three people holding him back, one on each arm and one with arms wrapped around his torso. His fists are dripping blood and he feels nothing._

_He grins a slow easy smile._

Neil is curious of how Andrew acts off his meds, the fight had taken place a couple of years ago, and sometime within the next six months Andrew was scheduled to be evaluated whether or not he could be taken off the medication.

“Are you ready?” Aaron asks with a voice devoid of emotion. Neil nods and trails after Aaron as he starts walking.

“Too close for a car?” Neil asks after a few moments of silent walking. Although he didn’t want to start a conversation, he disliked the tense atmosphere.

Aaron looks at him and shrugs, “No need to waste the gas when you have two legs.”

Neil raises an eyebrow at him but doesn’t say anything else. He understands the logic and Aaron’s words were chosen to put an end to the conversation.

Arriving at the Foxhole Court was a little less impactful than he thought. The colors were bright, it definitely stood out from the apartment buildings that surrounded it.

“Building to the right is where the foxes stay, top floor is ours. The other floors are rented out to people during the season,” Aaron explains, “There’s door codes that you’ll be told when we decide who you’re rooming with.”

“Wait I’ll be rooming with someone?” Neil cuts in, eyebrows furrowing. He hadn’t figured he’d have a roommate, despite the fact that it should’ve occurred to him. He just assumed he’d be alone.  

Aaron has a brief lapse into annoyance as he sighs, “Yes, we’re all paired with roommates. I’m sure you know the type of people Coach recruits, we’re told to avoid being alone whenever possible.”

Neil looks up at the apartment building as they walk past it. The top floor was five stories up, which means he’ll have to figure out the fastest ways out of the building from the upper floors. He retrains his attention on Aaron as he leads him to the court.

“The codes on the doors change every week, for extra security. This week it’s the last four digits of Coach’s phone number, you’ll learn the codes at the start of every week.” He punches in the code and pushes open the gate, walking in first and letting Neil close it behind them.

“Are the others here or something?” Neil asks as he’s led into the building, observing the lobby, and remembering the path to the lounge where he sees there are others.

“Amazing, you actually brought him here!”

Neil spots Andrew immediately, sitting on the couch with Kevin. His smile is wide and mocking.

“Not like I had the biggest amount of choice in the matter,” Aaron replies, walking over to the other side of the couch.

“Well you’re here in one piece Neil, that’s good!” The other man in the room says, standing from his place on the couch beside Andrew and walking over to Neil. “I’m Nicky, Nicky Hemmick, sorry I wasn’t there to walk with you, I’m sure Aaron was as awkward as ever.”

Neil slowly takes his offered hand, nodding slightly at Nicky’s bright grin, which doesn’t move even as Aaron glares at him.

“So why are we waiting around here?” Neil asks, taking in the homeliness of the lounge, with the pictures of the foxes and the awards on the walls.

“Coach has to get your set of keys, both to the court and the apartments of course, what else would we be doing here?” Andrew answers, giving him a blank look.

Neil pauses, giving Andrew a long look. Both of the twins were wearing the same outfit, and he’d lost track of who was what while looking around the room. He kept that thought in the back of his mind as he raises an eyebrow.

“Practicing maybe?”

Kevin gives a short laugh, “Practice? You try getting these fools to practice.”

Neil gives him a look, but doesn’t have time to answer before the door opens and Coach Wymack walks in. He’s dressed even more casually than he was when they first met, the tribal tattoo sleeves on full display with his earthbender training outfit. Tank top like shirt and loose knee length shorts.

He gives them all an even glare, “You know I hate when you all loiter.”

“Maybe that’s why we’re here,” Andrew replies, pushing himself off the couch with a slow smile.

“Whatever,” Wymack snorts, “Just take him to his room, Neil I put you in a room with Matt and Seth. The upperclassmen are currently out on a competition run, they won’t be back until next week, so you’re alone with these monsters until then.” He tosses a set of keys at Neil, which he catches one handedly, looking down curiously at the metal.

“Ouch coach, we’re hurt by your words,” Nicky mimes grabbing at his chest with a playful smile.

“Show him around and get out of my hair already, I’ve got work to do,” Is all Wymack says, turning towards what Neil figures is his office.

Nicky turns towards Neil, “Did Aaron explain the dorms situation to you?” 

“A little yes,” Neil nods, “I was questioning why I needed a roommate.”

“Yeah you get used to it, you also will have to have an evaluation done by the counselor Betsy and team nurse Abby, once they get back with the upperclassmen.”

Neil feels his breath catch, two evaluations? Did he really sign up for that in the contract? He should’ve read them closer. He’d been too off guard from the approach in general.

“You won’t be able to play without them,” Kevin says, and Neil looks over to see that the firebender had been watching him closely. He scowls at Kevin and looks back down at his feet. His skin is crawling again.

“Abby won’t care about your scars, and neither will Betsy, they’re legally obligated to not say anything,” Andrew laughs, “Don’t get all in a tizzy over it.”

Neil feels his blood run cold, “Shut the hell up.” He thinks back to when Coach recruited him, he must’ve made a file on him, not that he should’ve known about the scars. Damn Mr. Hernandez and his big mouth assuming what he shouldn’t.

“Andrew stop antagonizing him,” Kevin hisses at Andrew.

“Just show me to my room,” Neil grits, tightening his hold on the keys in his hand.

“No fun,” Andrew says, and takes the lead of their group by walking out of the door first.

Neil follows them through the building to an elevator, feeling boxed in as the space is rather small and five of them are shoved in together.

“So how did you get into fighting? It’s not common for airbenders to join,” Andrew asks, he’s standing directly across from Neil, arms crossed across his chest. There’s not a trace of smile on his face.

“I had nothing better to do with my time,” Neil replies, slowly realizing that his before theory was right. “So why are you off your meds?”

If eyes could burn people, and he’s sure there’s someone out there that can, Neil would be dead right now. Andrew tilts his head to the side and pushes away from the elevator wall, getting in Neils space.

“I’m not,” He says with grin, “That’s all you need to know.” The doors open behind Neil and Andrew shoves past him, Neil barely manages to keep his balance as Kevin and Aaron also brush past him. Nicky stops long enough to give his shoulder a comforting pat while simultaneously pushing him out into the hallway.

“The girls share this room,” Nicky explains to him, “Ours is the one across, and yours is beside ours.”

“What about all of the unused rooms?”

“If we ever get more players they would go to them, but as we are right now we don’t need them so they’re just waiting for people.”

“Coach’ll get angry if you try to break into one of them so don’t even try,” Andrew says as he unlocks the door to their room and slip inside.

Neil looks down at his set of keys, nodding when Nicky points to the one he’ll need.

“We’ll come get you when Kevin decides that it’s time to practice,” Nicky tells him, before disappearing into the room and shutting the door. Neil waits until he hears the lock click into place before going into his own dorm.

The room is warm, and he sees that the place is set up for four people, despite that only three were currently there. He explores quickly, and realizes that he’s going to have to make a run to the store to grab a few essentials, namely a safer place to lock up his bag than a desk.

He finds the key to the desk on top of it, which is pinning down a small note of apology and that the others would back to meet him soon. He guesses that they left the day that Wymack came by to recruit him.

Neil takes his bag off of his shoulder and climbs up to his bed, unpacking the clothes layered on top to reveal the thing he was most worried about.

The binder was a means to an end of keeping his life hidden. At first glance it looks like an overly obsessive research project on the Moriyama’s frontmost firebenders, but deeper into it is hidden messages, codes on contacts and safe places and leftover money.

He reaches into the front pocket and removes a few bills, just enough to get him what he’ll need for the room. Although it’ll barely make a dent in the amount of money he’s currently holding onto, he still worries nonetheless. Carelessness means death.

Neil sighs as he repacks the bag, replacing everything as it was to the exact same pattern as it’d been before he’d dug out the binder. He climbs down from the top bunk and examines the desk drawer. Although it could fit the bag, it was definitely snug, and the lock was flimsy. However it would be best if he went ahead and took care of the shopping he needed as soon as possible.

Pressing a hand to the lock one last time, he pockets the key and heads out of the dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will probably never have a schedule because my life is a mess but always know I'm trying my best.


End file.
